The Good Lives Model of Offender Rehabilitation (GLM)

The Good Lives Model of Offender Rehabilitation (GLM) offers a comprehensive, targeted, and individually meaningful framework for rehabilitative work with offenders. The ethical core of the GLM is that of human rights and it starts from the assumption that while offenders have obligations to respect other peoples' entitlements to well-being and freedom, they are also entitled to the same considerations. This is particularly so when it comes to the implementation of punishment and reintegration initiatives. Two fundamental intervention aims follow from this ethical starting point: the enhancement of offenders' well-being and reduction of their risk of further offending. According to the GLM, these goals are inextricably linked and the best way to create a safer society is to assist offenders to adopt more fulfilling and socially integrated lifestyles.

The GLM is grounded in the ethical concept of human dignity and universal human rights, and as such it has a strong emphasis on human agency. That is, the GLM is concerned with individuals' ability to formulate and select goals, construct plans, and to act freely in the implementation of these plans. A closely related assumption is the basic premise that offenders, like all humans, value certain states of mind, personal characteristics, and experiences, which are defined in the GLM as primary goods. These are defined as:

• Life (including healthy living and functioning)
• Knowledge (how well informed one feels about things that are important to them)
• Excellence in play (hobbies and recreational pursuits)
• Excellence in work (including mastery experiences)
• Excellence in agency (autonomy, power and self-directedness)
• Inner peace (freedom from emotional turmoil and stress)
• Relatedness (including intimate, romantic, and familial relationships)
• Community (connection to wider social groups)
• Spirituality (in the broad sense of finding meaning and purpose in life)
• Pleasure (feeling good in the here and now)
• Creativity (expressing oneself through alternative forms)

Whilst it is assumed that all humans seek out all the primary goods to some degree, the weightings or priorities given to specific primary goods reflect an offender's values and life priorities. Moreover, the existence of a number of practical identities, based on, for example, family roles (e.g., parent), work (e.g., psychologist), and leisure (e.g., rugby player) mean that an individual might draw on different value sources in different contexts, depending on the normative values underpinning each practical identity.

Instrumental goods, or secondary goods, provide concrete means of securing primary goods and take the form of approach goals. For example, completing an apprenticeship might satisfy the primary goods of knowledge and excellence in work, whereas joining an adult sports team or cultural club might satisfy the primary good of community. Such activities are incompatible with dynamic risk factors, meaning that avoidance goals are indirectly targeted through the GLM's focus on approach goals.

Tony Ward, PhD

• Website: http://www.goodlivesmodel.com/
• Email: tony.ward@vuw.ac.nz

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

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"What is included in the Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research section?"

• Note: The following study was not included in rating The Good Lives Model of Offender Rehabilitation on the Scientific Rating Scale.

  Willis, G. M., & Ward, T. (2011). Striving for a good life: The good lives model applied to released child molesters. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 17(3), 290–303. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600.2010.505349

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to explore the practical utility of the Good Lives Model (GLM) [now called The Good Lives Model of Offender Rehabilitation (GLM)] with a sample of released child molesters, and investigate the relationship between primary goods attainment and overall re-entry conditions (in terms of accommodation, social support, and employment). Participants received the GLM intervention. Measures utilized include the Automated Sexual Recidivism Scale (ASRS), and the Good Lives Model questionnaire protocol. Semistructured interviews were conducted with child molesters at one, three, and six months following their release from prison. Results indicate that participants endorsed the majority of GLM primary goods with high importance, and positive re-entry experiences were associated with increased goods attainment. Limitations include the small sample size, lack of control group, and reliance on self-reported measures. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of a control group.

• Ward, T., & Mann, R. (2004). Good Lives and the rehabilitation of offenders: A positive approach to sex offender treatment. In P.A. Linley and S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 598-616), Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

• Ward, T., & Fortune, C. A. (2014). The Good Lives Model: A strength-based approach to offender rehabilitation. In D. Polizzi, M. Braswell, & M. Draper (Eds.). Humanistic approaches to corrections and offender treatment (pp. 115-130). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.

• Yates, P. M., Prescott, D., & Ward, T. (2010). Applying the Good Lives and self-regulation models to sex offender treatment. Brandon, VT: Safer Society.